Dark Moons
by Sakurai101
Summary: Deceived by the snake, Orochimaru, two sisters are pitted against each other. One fighting for vengeance and one fighting to save the entire human race.


A woman sat in her rocking chair, rubbing her engorged belly. The flames cast a warm glow on her being as she drank her steaming tea. She set her mug down on top of her stomach while her husband walked around her and knelt in front of his wife's belly. He pressed his forehead against the womb where the baby lay and sighed contently. His wife snaked her hand into his snow white hair, massaging it gently and leaning further back into her chair comfortably.

"What do you think it's going to be?" The man looked up at his wife and smiled. He placed his hands on her belly and kissed it lovingly. He pressed his forehead against the womb again, smiling.

"I'm hoping it will be a beautiful little girl, just like her mother." The husband stood up and tilted the wife's head up to meet his kiss.

* * *

Screams filled the empty shrine as well as footsteps that could be heard above them.

"Nato! Nato!" Said man came running back into the shrine room with a bucket filled with clean water and a few towels on his arms. He skid on his knees over to where is wife lay.

"I'm here, my love. I'm here. It's going to be alright, Sachiko."

"We have to go to her. We have to go to Tsunade." Sachiko gritted out. She panted profusely as she clenched the cloth covering her belly. Nato placed the bucket down and laid the towels next to him.

"It's too far away, Sachiko. We might as well have the baby here. Nothing wrong with being born in a shrine." Nato had Sachiko lift her hips so that he could place a large towel under her as a sort of makeshift mat. He removed her hands from her stomach and undid the sash that held her kimono together. Pulling her underwear off her, he tossed it aside. He spread her legs in front of him having her bend her knees. He took a deep breath. He had never delivered a baby before but he didn't have any other choice today.

"Okay, love. On the count of three push."

"All I wanted to do was offer up a blessing on my child, not give birth." Sachiko's voice cracked from the pain running through her abdomen.

"Three...two...o-" Sachiko began to push with all her might, propping herself up on her elbows as a form of motivation to push the child out. "I didn't say one..." Sachiko shot Nato a death glare, telling him to shut up. He gulped and nodded as he focused his attention on what was more important.

A few hours later a wail filled the room and relieved laughter sounded. Nato cut the umbilical cord and wiped down his child with a wet towel. He swaddled the baby, kissing it's forehead. He looked up at the exhausted mother with a smile.

"It's a girl." He carried the child toward her mother and placed her in Sachiko's arms. Sachiko sat up and let Nato sit behind her as a back support for her. She looked down at her baby. She had little tufts of light pink hair that resembled a mixture of her own darkened pink hair and Nato's white hair. It reminded her of the beautiful cherry blossom tree that was just out behind the shrine. Her eyes were that of her father's instead of her own Azure blue ones; a vibrant, deep green that was not too bright but not too dark, almost like an Islamic green. Her skin was rosy and soft. She looked like an angel in baby form. Sachiko smiled as tears formed and rolled down her cheek on to the baby's.

"She's beautiful...you're beautiful...Sakura."

* * *

"Mommy? Am I going to be a big brother?" Sakura lay cradled in her mother's arms. Her tiny, lightweight form sat just on top of the enormous belly. She looked up at her mother as chuckles sounded.

"It's sister, Kuku. You're going to be a big sister." Sachiko said as she rocked back and forth in the rocking chair, lulling the already tired 4 year old to sleep. The mother kissed her child's forehead gently. Nato sat across from her, watching mother and child with a smile. He almost chuckled at the nickname given to Sakura when she had just started talking. She couldn't say her own name properly so she would just settle for calling herself Kuku. He sat up continuing to stare at the pair.

"I wonder where she got the notion that she was going to be a big _brother _from." He chuckled as he stood up to make his way over to his wife. Sachiko looked up at his advancing form.

"Maybe she's hoping for a little brother."

"Well I'm hoping for another girl just like the two I already have." He smirked and captured his wife's lips with his own.

"I get the feeling that you have an obsession with women." Sachiko said after breaking the kiss. She looked her husband in the eye not minding the close proximity they were in. Nato laughed.

"I don't know why you would think that." Nato kissed her again and took the sleeping child out of the mother's arms.

"What are doing?" She called after his retreating form. He looked over his shoulder at her.

"You've never heard of taking advantage of the situation?" Sachiko sat confused. Nato gave a toothy grin. "I'm horny and Sakura's asleep." Nato disappeared around the corner and Sachiko gave out a laugh.

* * *

Sakura sat in her grandmother Chiyo's lap with her little plush bunny in one hand and the other clenching to her grandmother's shirt. Screams could be heard from outside the hospital room where Sakura and her grandmother sat in waiting. She cringed and hid her face in Chiyo's shirt. Chiyo felt the child tense and smiled down at Sakura.

"It's okay, my dear. Your mother is okay." Sakura looked up teary eyed and her bottom lip pushed out.

"But mommy's screaming." Chiyo chuckled. The innocence of a child was amazing.

"Yes I know but I assure you everything is okay."

Hours later Nato came out of the room and waved a hand at Sakura and Chiyo.

"Would you like to meet your little sister, Sakura?" Nato held out a hand for her. Sakura nodded shyly and ran to take her father's hand.

Nato walked inside the hospital room with Sakura. They walked towards the bed that held Sachiko with a baby in arms. As the pair got closer, Nato lifted Sakura up and placed on the bed next to her mother. Sakura knelt down and leaned in closer to look at her sibling. The baby opened her eyes and looked up at the green orbs inspecting her.

"Mommy she has sky eyes like you!" The adults in the room laughed causing the little girl to look around confused.

"You mean she has blue eyes, Kuku." Sachiko knew that Sakura had picked up on the fact the her eyes resembled the color of the sky on a clear day.

Sakura looked back down at the baby again and noticed a white tuft of hair among the dark pink. She hesitantly reached her hand out to touch the hair.

"Daddy she has snow in her hair like you." Nato laughed and ruffled Sakura's hair.

"I know isn't it great?" Suddenly the baby began to cry and Sachiko began to coo at the child. The child wailed louder and Sachiko just continued to cradle her.

"Don't cry..." Everyone looked at Sakura. She held her plush bunny in front of her face and acted as if it was a mask. She used the arms to wave and changed her voice to make it look like it belonged to the toy. The baby's wailing died down as she focused on her older sister. "If you keep crying, you'll make everyone sad." Sakura made the bunny wipe away a fake tear.

_'Sakura...'_ Nato arched his eyebrows in surprise at his daughter.

"So please stop crying, Yukiko." Sakura removed the toy from her face and put it aside. Sachiko stared at her daughter in surprise at the name given to the baby.

_'Yukiko...Snow child?'_ Sachiko smiled. _'It fits...'_

Yukiko smiled and reached out to Sakura who leaned in closer. The baby placed her hand on Sakura's face and tried to grasp her cheeks. Sakura smiled at her sister and grasp her hand in her own as she kissed her nose.

* * *

"Why now! Why can't we just live in peace for a little bit longer!" Nato swiped everything that was on the counter down. The sounds of the items hitting the floor and splintering into pieces, reverberated through the house. Sachiko stepped forward and placed her hand on her husband's shoulder. Tears streamed down her face as she forced him to face her. He avoided eye contact with her and looked passed her.

"This is the way it has to be. You knew that when you married me. My life comes with a price." She stifled a sob as she covered her mouth and stepped away from Nato.

Nato sighed and pulled Sachiko into a tight hug. He kissed her forehead with gentleness and tightened his hold on her as if she'd slip away.

"I hate you for this..." Nato whispered.

"I know." Sachiko let more tears fall.

"But I also love so much for the life you've shared with me." Nato's voice cracked as tears fell from his eyes. He buried his face in Sachiko's hair and let his shoulders shake. "I love you so much."

Sachiko pulled away. She wiped away her tears and looked Nato in the eyes.

"We have to do it tonight or we'll never have another chance." Nato nodded and turned away.

"I'll go get the kids."

* * *

"Daddy...where are we going?" Sakura rested her head on her father's shoulder and wrapped her arms around his neck. Nato ran behind his wife who was carrying Yukiko up the hill to the shrine where Sakura was born. Nato threw the hood of Sakura's jacket back on her head to protect her the chilling cold.

"Don't worry about it. Just go back to sleep, Kuku." Sakura nodded her head and closed her eyes.

Once in the shrine room, Nato laid Sakura down next to where Sachiko had laid Yukiko. Sachiko removed her winter coat and began preforming ancient hand seals that only a handful of people, including Nato, knew today. They originated from thousands of years ago when things like ninja and demons still existed...when the ninja world was predominate in the world.

Sachiko closed her eyes and whispered something unheard. Nato watched as his wife began to glow a soft blue. Her hair spread out like water around, fluttering in the nonexistent wind. Her kimono did just the same, moving with ease around her while a fairly large, white orb formed in her hands. She opened her eyes and Nato could that they had a white and bluish color to them. There was no pupil just the white. She stood over the sleeping form of the Yukiko whispering something else. Sachiko separated her hands and let the orb slip from them. The orb stopped just above the sleeping 6 month old's chest before it sunk like a ship and dissipated. She moved onto Sakura doing the same thing except the orb was tiny almost like a marble and it had a red tint to it that almost looked pink. It stopped short and sunk then disappeared into her chest just like Yukiko's.

Nato stepped forward as Sachiko's appearance went back to normal. He looked over his children's undisturbed beings.

"Why was Sakura's smaller?" Nato questioned as he bent down to brush a bang away from Sakura's face.

"So that if _he _comes to take either of them it will look like she is the weaker one and he'll leave her alone." Sachiko hugged herself and gave a morbid expression. "All _he _is power. Nothing more."

"But what about Yukiko?" Nato looked at Sachiko. He stood up to face her. "_He's _just going to take our little and leave Sakura alone? Shouldn't we be protecting them both?" Sachiko could hear the anger in her husband's voice.

"There's nothing I can do. This is the way it's supposed to be, Nato. That's what I've been told since I was young." Sachiko spaced out as she thought about her past.

**_Flashback_**

_A 14 year old Sachiko quietly followed behind her mother into a room at the far back of the shrine. They entered the room and Sachiko's mother sat her in a chair in front of a woman who looked to be in her mid 40's. The woman sat on the other side of the table that separated them. She inspected Sachiko and smiled._

_"What a terrible life you will have to lead." The woman said softly. Sachiko tensed up and clenched her teeth. The woman noticed but said nothing about it. "You will live peacefully with the man you love, but only for a time. You'll bear a child that will be a savior to this world. She carry with her a great power that is unimaginable to anyone." Sachiko questioned the woman with her eyes._

_'An unimaginable power?'_

_"You'll also bear another child that will become spiteful of the other. Her hatred will be the downfall of her own being. She will be deceived and will only be a pawn in this game that will play out."_

_"How is this a game!" Sachiko slammed her hands down on the table and stood up, pushing the chair back. "My future children's lives will be at risk. No life is a game." The woman looked the girl over patiently before she continued. _

_"In every game there is a winner, no? What you may see as a battle is only a game to your enemy so you must act as if it is one." The woman explained. Sachiko sat down, relaxing a bit, starting understand where the woman was coming from. "However, in this game it's a matter of life or death. The survival or extinction of this entire world. If the wrong player wins then darkness will fill the universe for all eternity. That's the way it's going to be. That is the life that has been entrusted to your family for all generations until this evil destroyed." Sachiko couldn't hear anymore. She shot out of the chair and out of the room. She stopped in the hallway sliding down it's wall letting her tears flow._

_'Why is this happening? Why couldn't it be someone else?' Sachiko slammed her fist against the wall. 'It's not fair...'_

**_Flashback End_**

"Maybe the lady was wrong. Maybe she was completely inaccurate and nothing is going to happen. That has to be it. It doesn't have to be like this, Sachiko." Nato gripped her arms as she began to cry.

"It does, Nato. This is the life they were destined for. If I could change it I would've done it a long time ago."

* * *

Sachiko stood in front of the mirror fiddling with her knife. She looked up to stare at her reflection. She couldn't stop thinking about safety of her family.

**_Flashback_**

_"Promise me you'll keep them safe." Sachiko stood in the doorway of her home, zipping up her husband's jacket and throwing a scarf around his neck._

_"I will." Nato grabbed his wife's hand, forcing her to pause any movement. She met his eyes but quickly turned her head away. He used the tips of his finger to turn her head back towards him. He leaned in and Sachiko met him halfway. The kiss passionate but gently. _

_Sachiko made use of the moment to take her wedding ring off and place it in his gloved hand. Nato broke apart the kiss to look down at his hand. His eyes widened in shock and he quickly tried to give the ring back. Sachiko quickly pushed his hand away before he could do anything more._

_"A dead person will have no use for such a beautiful ring. Keep it." Sachiko smiled at him as tears rolled down her face again._

_"You don't know that you're going to die." Nato said urgently. _

_"Well just in case something happens keep the ring. Maybe I'll come back." Nato didn't know what to say. Sachiko reached around his neck and unclasped the necklace around his neck. Removing the pendant already on the chain, she slipped the ring on and clasped it back around his neck. Nato looked down at the jewelry and let a tear fall._

_"Now go." She said pointing into the distance. "Before the children become restless." Nato stood stock still so Sachiko turned him around and pushed him down the steps. He looked back at her once more before running up to her and pulling her into a passionately rough kiss. With that he ran away from her and their home grabbing his children._

_"Dad, what's going on...what is mom doing?" Sakura, now 12 years old, tried her best to keep up with her father. She felt something wet hit her cheeks and it dawned on her that her father was crying. "Dad?"_

_"Papa, how come mommy's not coming?" 8 year old Yukiko asked. Nato ignored the girls and continued towards the snowy mountains surrounding their home._

_Sachiko watched as her husband moved towards the mountains and let her sobs sound. She walked into the house and closed the door behind her. As she slid down the door she cried out in agony at the prospect that she would never see her beloved husband and children again._

**_Flashback End_**

Sachiko sighed and looked down at the ground, clenching the blade in her hand. She heard a chuckle sound behind her. She turned around. There _he _stood in all his putrid glory.

"Orochimaru..." Sachiko spitefully said.

Said man gave a sly smile. He leaned against the wall with his arm crossed. His long hair framed his face while his scarf covered his neck from the winter cold outside. His coat was buttoned all the way down concealing most of his legs only leaving his boots visible.

"Why so hateful, my love. I'm only hear to claim what's rightfully mine." His raspy voice said. Sachiko narrowed her eyes and pulled out a lighter from her kimono. "What is that going to do? If you're trying to be intimidating then you should have done something a little more extravagant." Sachiko laughed.

"Didn't you notice the smell of gasoline?"Orochimaru did notice it but shrugged it off. "This isn't for you." Sachiko lit the lighter and dropped it into a small, barely noticeable puddle of gasoline hidden behind her. Soon a trail of flames erupted and spread towards Orochimaru. Said man jumped away before the flames could touch him. The fire spread like wild fire around the room and out to the hallway, through which he came, on a designated path. She planned for this.

Orochimaru focused his attention back on Sachiko. He noticed that the flames had caught on to her kimono and was quickly engulfing her body. With inhuman speed he grabbed her by the throat and tore the kimono off her. Sachiko clenched her free hand around his and tried to pry his hands off her while keeping the blade from before hidden behind her back with her other hand.

"I don't know what stupid games you're trying to play but I've had enough." He lifted her higher off the ground. "Give me what I want." Sachiko looked at him and struggled to talk.

"N-never." With that she plunged the blade she held in her hand into her stomach. Orochimaru yelled in frustration and threw her across the room. She made contact with the wall before falling on her stomach forcing the blade deeper into her form. She coughed up blood and rolled over. Orochimaru appeared in front of her suddenly and pulled her up by the hair. He brought her close stuck his snake like tongue out to lick her face.

"I'm going to get what I want from you." Sachiko chuckled painfully and Orochimaru raised an eye at her. He widened his eyes and threw her down. He wrapped his hands around her neck preparing to snap it in half.

"Where is it? Where is it!" He yelled at her. Sachiko smiled.

"It's way out of your reach." He released her and walked over to the mirror punching it. Sachiko chuckled behind him and he turned to her. He summoned a snake and it slithered out of his arm. Once it hit the ground is grew in length and size. It slithered over to the nearly lifeless Sachiko. It wrapped itself around the woman's body and neck preparing to snap her in half.

"I'll ask you again...where is the power that I seek?" Silence fell between them with Orochimaru waiting for an answer.

"Burn in fucking hell snake."

The snake squeezed the woman until a loud crack was heard. The snake uncoiled itself and Orochimaru stared at the woman dead on the ground.

Outside a blizzard raged on covering whatever tracks were there before. Orochimaru clenched his fist as he watched the house fall apart from the flames.

"Damn that woman."


End file.
